Neuromarketing: Web Design with the Brain in Mind

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The field of neuroscience has grown by leaps and bounds in recent years, so it’s not surprising that it’s found it’s way into marketing. Researchers have begun to study the way the brain works in response to marketing stimuli. By understanding the consumer’s cognitive and sensory responses, you can fine-tune your web design and encourage conversions.

orangutan-300x204The Primitive Brain

Picture this: out for an evening walk, you nearly step on a snake. It takes your brain only milliseconds to respond to the potential threat, causing you to stop short and take a closer look. By the time you jump back, you realize it’s just a stick. But your primitive brain responded before you could really process what you were looking at and come to a rational decision to just keep walking.

Consumers work the same way when they come to your website. The job of the primitive brain is to keep us alive, so it’s hard-wired to process external stimuli in a certain way. Our logical and emotional thinking only kick in when after our primitive brain is sure we’re ok, which has a fascinating impact on web design.

Related post: Simple and Highly Effective Web Design Tips

Every visitor is asking 4 instinctual questions when they visit your website. Look at your website design and think about how it answers these questions:

1. Am I in a familiar environment?

The primitive brain is hard-wired for efficiency and looks for familiar patterns. When you present something that isn’t easily recognizable, you can create an interrupted experience for your visitor as their brain assesses for danger. This means showing your visitor people like themselves, speaking their language, and keeping your home page consistent.

2. Am I safe?

When the primitive brain notices changes in the environment, it automatically focuses on them. An unexpected element in your web design acts the same way as a suspicious rustling in the bushes did for our ancestors. That’s why navigation accounts for 60% of your online success, and as much as 80% for mobile sites. It’s almost always best to stick to a predictable navigation and layout so your don’t interrupt user experience.

That’s why we hate pop-ups so much; our attention is instinctively drawn to them. This can be advantageous for you if you use them judiciously (i.e., for a compelling deal).

3. Can I see it?

Roughly half of your brain is meant to process visual stimuli (we alluded to this last month), and once you see something, you can’t “unsee” it. Try this: how many light switches do your have in your home? You probably visualized the rooms in your home, instinctively, to come up with an answer. We use our visual sense heavily to understand our world, and you need to focus your web design on great visuals. Whether photos of your products in action, of your employees providing service, or your retail location, great photos give customers something powerful to connect with.

4. Should I act right now?

Our brain needs to sense some urgency in order to act. We’re more motivated by the possibility of loss than of gain, and we like the idea of something we can have right now. This means you need to include a call-to-action on every page as well as a way to act immediately (e-mail opt in form, membership sign-up form, contact information, etc.). Visitors lose interest quickly, so present actionable items early and often.

Neuromarketing is a relatively new concept, but it’s growing fast and there’s lots more to learn about our potential customer’s instinctual behavior. Hopefully these tips will get you started on improving your web design for the best user experience and gaining more conversions!

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As co-founder, Jim brings his vast creative design skills and project management abilities to the firm. Creating beautiful AND functional web solutions for every client is Jim’s #1 Priority. He manages the creative and development teams and oversees support services to ensure total client satisfaction.
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